Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing Recipe

by Sala @ Veggie Belly on June 9, 2011

My sister regularly gets this blueberry mango quinoa salad with lemon basil dressing at the Marks and Spencer grocery store in UK. She also regularly raves about it to me. She says it’s the perfect healthy salad for summer – fruity, tangy, fresh and filling.

Marks and Spencer’s version of this salad has quinoa, barley, red rice, sprouts, mango, blueberry, and cucumbers. I simplified it a bit, and used only quinoa plus the fruits and cucumber.

Cut the cucumber and mango about the same size as the blueberries, so everything looks uniform. Add the fruits to the salad just before serving to ensure they are fresh and juicy. This salad recipe has as much fruits and vegetable as there is quinoa. If you want it less fruity just use less fruits or more quinoa.

The dressing recipe here will make a little more than you need. Toss half the dressing with the quinoa. Serve the other half on the side – this always pleases the people who like their salads extra tangy!

You can customize this blueberry mango quinoa salad recipe any way you like. Here are some suggestions to add to this recipe if you want some variations:

Place the quinoa and water in a medium skillet and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, and simmer covered for about 15 minutes or till the quinoa is cooked. Remove the lid, and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Let it cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa is cooking, combine the fruits in a bowl and refrigerate till you are ready to serve the salad.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients, except the chopped basil. Refrigerate till you are ready to serve. Chop and add the basil to the dressing just before serving. If you add it earlier, it will go black.

Add half the dressing to the quinoa and mix gently.

Assemble the salad just before serving – toss the quinoa, fruits and cucumbers together. Serve other half of the dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

Sala,
Mango and blueberries make such a fantastic combination. Since the time I’ve realized this season, I just can’t stop thinking of incorporating them in any recipe possible.
This salad looks so refreshingly colorful and yes, so full of health..

The first shot and the one with fruits on the strainer are my favorite shots.

It was not until a couple weeks back that I tried/tasted quinoa and now I am a HUGE fan of it!
That looks like a nice and refreshing recipe. Will give it a try since I love mangoes and the li’l one in the family can eat anything with blueberries in it so this recipe should be a hit in the family!

Oh wow this looks incredible! And can’t say I have ever seen it at Marks… maybe our store in Cambridge is a bit too simple! Will have a go tomorrow… which mangoes did you use? We have some Alphonso… just discovered your blog, so I have many exciting recipes to look forward to

I would like to try all teh recipes on your blog! everything is beautiful. Sucha pleasure to come here to see the food and your photographs. I am so making htis salad with some pearl couccous that a friend had sent to me. I hope it will look as beautiful as yours! The colours are brilliant. I must look for a blue plate like in your picture. So beautiful.

Thanks so much for this awesome recipe! Just used it on my lifestyle blog (www.athenafey.com) under a “non-leafy salad” post. I’ve never been able to like leafy salads and the quinoa is a great substitute. Thanks! Hope you liked the shout on on http://www.athenafey.com as well!

How well do you think this recipe would work for making ahead of time? I could wait to combine the quinoa with the fruit until just before serving, and hold off ’til the last on the basil too of course. That brings up another question. If the above WOULD be okay, should I wait until just before mealtime to toss the quinoa with the dressing or is okay to let it sit overnight already “dressed”?

I quadrupled the recipe. I had no fresh blueberries so I substituted strawberries. I added mint, garbanzo beans and cherry tomatoes. Also, I a bunch of bulgur, so I used that instead. In turned out awesome. I will add some shredded chicken to it to make it a full meal salad. I may try this again. Thanks

Whoa, I just recently started eating quinoa in the morning with blueberries, almonds and some coconut milk. This looks likes another great way to pair quinoa and blueberries, along with my two other favorites lemon and basil. I can’t wait to try this!

Was a great motivator to take out that packet of Quinoa which the rest of the family didn’t accept wholeheartedly! I made myself a salad with mangoes, cucumber and coriander leaves, since I didn’t have blueberries (hard to keep them, they vanish instantly) and basil. Tasted great nevertheles. Thanks!

I found this on Pinterest a few months ago and was so excited to try it I spent a fortune on out of season fruit to make it. Now that summer has rolled around and fruit is so much more affordable, this has become a staple at my house. I love it!

Wow! “This is a real keeper” says my husband and he never says this about much, especially salad! And it is. I used frozen mango (thawed, of course), fresh blueberries, quinoa cooked in store-bought chicken broth, cukes, dried cranberries, fresh basil and toasted walnuts. The basil added the beautiful flavor and the walnuts added the wonderful texture. Gorgeous color and taste!

I just wanted to thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made it last night and it was so fresh and tasty-like summer on a plate! I shared it on the community website I manage, with a link back to veggiebelly.com. I hope that is okay. I’ll also tweet it with a link. http://derochedecibel.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/mango-blueberry-quinoa-salad/
Look forward to many more of your recipes!
Carrie

This was delicious! It’s difficult to measure how much lemon juice I’m squeezing out of the lemon, and same with the zest. I just grated the lemon right over the bowl with the olive oil and lemon juice. But I guess I should have grated it over a separate plate and then put the zest in a measuring spoon to make sure it was exact. I think I ended up putting too much in because it was just a tad bitter. But it was still super yummy! It looks beautiful too. Thank you!